This invention relates generally to vehicle lift gates and in particular to safety equipment for vehicle lift gates.
The danger of vehicle back-over accidents, especially those involving children, is well-known. According to statistics from the US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) on average, there are 210 fatalities and 15,000 injuries per year caused by back-over crashes. NHTSA has found that children under 5 years old account for 31 percent of back-over fatalities each year, and adults 70 years of age and older account for 26 percent. Many of these accidents could have been prevented by installation of a relatively inexpensive backup camera and/or backup sensors.
In light of these statistics, NHTSA has announced a change to federal regulation 49 C.F.R. §571.111, which governs the requirements for vehicle rear view visibility. Under the new rule, all vehicles under 10,000 pounds, including buses and trucks, manufactured on or after May 1, 2018, must be equipped with rear visibility technology that expands the field of view to enable the driver of a motor vehicle to detect areas behind the vehicle. The field of view must include a 10-foot by 20-foot zone directly behind the vehicle. Although the specific technology is not dictated by the new regulations, the clear implication is that all new vehicles manufactured after May 1, 2018 will be equipped with a backup camera, alone or in combination with backup proximity sensors. Many vehicles in use today are already equipped with backup cameras and proximity sensors.
Pickup trucks present a special problem for mounting a backup camera. A camera mounted to the roof of the cab cannot see through the tail gate. Consequently, most modern pickup trucks mount the backup camera and sensors inside the rear bumper or in the tailgate itself. These mounting locations, however, create a new problem if a liftgate is to be installed on the vehicle, since on most pickup trucks, the bumper and tailgate must be removed in order to mount the liftgate.